CASE STUDY

THE PATIENT Disney+

HERE’S a refreshingly straightforward drama that manages to be gripping without resorting to gimmicks and histrionics. Steve Carell plays psychotherapist Alan Strauss who’s recovering from a bereavement when he’s abducted and held prisoner by patient Sam, played by Domhnall Gleeson. Although Sam doesn’t seem too extreme, he wants Alan to cure him of his murderous compulsions and the psychotherapist must rely on all his knowledge and experience to stop it ending badly for him. It’s a tense, fascinating relationship that plays out over ten 20-minute episodes.